Hand-tool for forming staples.



- Patented Sept. 5, I899, B. F. KEBNUDLE.

HAND TOOL-FOB FORMING STAPLES.

(Application filed Feb. 18, 1899.)

(No Model.)

STATES ATENT FFIQEQ HAND-TOOL FOR FORMING STAPLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 632,311, datedSeptember 5, 1899.

Application filed February 13, 1899. Serial No. 705,417. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that LBENJAMIN F. KERNODLE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Jamestown, in the county of Boone and State of Indiana, haveinvented new and useful Iinprovements in Hand-Tools for Forming Staples,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in a hand-tool forforming or bending the projecting or head ends of nails to form a staplehaving legs of unequal lengths,which bending operation is performedafter the nail has been driven in place to per. manently secure thewires of a fence or like structure to its supporting-post or othersupporting means.

The object of this my invention is to provide a cheap, light, and aneffective handtool that can be used in the field to bend the projectingends or head ends of the wire nails which are employed to secure thefence to its posts instead of the usual form of staple, to encircle thewire of the fence and secure the fence to its post, to bend the ends ofthe said securing-nails that the heads thereof will abut against thepost into which they are driven and encircle the wire of the fence inthe same manner as the ordinary staple, and to provide a cheaper andmore effective means for securing wire fences to their posts than thestaples, specially-formed hooks, or cleats heretofore employed for thispurpose. I attain these objects by means of the device illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, in which similar numerals of referencedesignate like parts throughout the several views.

Figure 1 is a front view of the device, showing the former and benderthereof.

the pivotal bending-arm to which the bender is either secured or isformed integral thereon. Fig. 3 is an edge view of the device. Fig. 4 isa broken-off perspective view of the device. Fig. 5 is a view showingthe form of the usual and well-known form of commercial wire nail; andFig. 6 is a view of the said nail, showing the form of bend obtained bythe application of my device and which is accomplished after said nailis driven into the fence-post.

In this my improved method of erecting and securing wire fences,particularly woven-wire Fig. 2 is y a rear broken-01f View of thedevice, showing.

fences, to their supporting-posts the wires or woven wires of the fenceto be erected are drawn tightly in the usual or any suitable manner toand in contact with the supporting-posts, andin each of thesupporting-posts is driven wire nails in such position and in contactwith the fence-wires, or in case of woven-wire fences at the intersticeor angle where the wires cross, to secure the fence to thesupporting-posts. These securing-nails are not driven their entirelengths into the posts, but are purposely permitted toproject to acertain predetermined extent or an amount to form the required bend, asillustratedin Fig. 6, and which bend encircles the wire of the fence tosecure it to the post, and the means by which this object isaccomplished constitute my invention, which I will now proceed todescribe.

I first construct the lever 1, which may be of steel, malleable iron, orother suitable metal, and on one end of said lever is formed thehandhold or handle 2 and on the opposite end is formed the segmentalportion 3. The contacting or bearing ends 4 and 5 of the segmentalportion 3 are provided with teeth, which form a resisting means toretain the tool in position on the fence-post while in use. The bearingend at is provided with the teeth 6 and the end 5 with the tooth 7 onlyand which is located at the extreme outer edge of the bearing end orfoot for the purpose of the more readily being embedded into the surfaceof the post while manipulating the device to retain said device in itsdetermined position overthe fence-wire while bending the securing-nail10.

The former 8, around which the projecting or head ends of the nails forsecuring the fence are bent, as shown in Figs. 1 and 6, is cylindricaland is preferably formed integral on the side of the segnlentalportion 3of the device and projects a suitable distance therefrom and at rightangles therewith, said former located intermediate between the ends orfeet 4 and 5 and having its periphery touching the edge of the recessedportion 12 of the segment 3. A- deeper semicircular recess 01' notch 13is formed on that side of the segment 3 contiguous to the bearing end orfoot eand is provided for the purpose of permitting the former S of thedevice to be placed in closer proximity to the fence-wire, so that thesecuring-nail will contact with the wire of the fence to be secured tothe post 14:. (Shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1.) The bender 9 is eitherfirmly secured on the side of the lever or is formed integral thereonand is of a segmental form, which form secures the greater body of metalto be distributed in the direction of the force and at the same timeprovides a concave portion directed toward the nail or object to be bentto retain the latter in form while being bent. The said bender isarranged to project through the segmental slot 17, with its concavesurface parallel with the peripheral surface of the former 8 and to anamount equal to the height of the projection of the former 8. Thebending-lever 15 is pivoted on the pin 18, which is secured in thesegmental portion 3 of the device in such a manner that its axis is notonly parallel with the axis of the cylindrical former, but is eccentricwith the latter axis. tricity of the bender 9 is provided for thepurpose of causing the concave surface of the bender 9 to approach theperipheral surface of the former 8 at the close of the operation or whenthe head of the nail 10 is being turned down to contact with the surfaceof the fencepost-that is to say, when turning the lever 15 by its handel6, commencing at the beginning 17 of the segmental slot 17, to traversethe bender in the direction of themrow and toward the end 17 of the saidslot the said bender gradually approaches toward the former S to firmlycompress the object between them to permanently set the object to itsbend. (See Fig. 1.)

I will now proceed to describe the manner of applying and using thedevice. to Fig. l, where it will be observed that the fence-wire F W isfirst drawn taut against the post 14, a wire nail of suitable strengthor size is driven into the post in position to retain said wire taut andthe said nail is driven only partially into the post, an amount ofprojec tion being provided to permit the formation of the required bend.The device is now applied to the post inposition over the wire F WV tobe secured, so that the said wire enters the notch 13 and thevertically-projecting end of the securing-nail is between the former 8and the bender 9 when the latter is at the beginning of its stroke orswing-that is, at the This eccen-' Referring end 17 of the slot 17. Theoperator grasps the handle 2 of the device and holds it firmly againstthe surface of the post 145 and with his disengaged hand grasps thehandle 16 and swings the lever 15 in the direction of the arrow to causethe bender 9 to bend the projecting end of the nail 10 down in the formshown in Fig. 1, by which means the wire fence is securely held to itspost.

Having thus fully described this my invention, what I claim as new anduseful, and desire to cover by Letters Patent of the United Statestherefor, is

1. In a tool for forming staples, the combination of a lever having asegmental end, a segmental slot in said end, and a cylindrical formersituated centrally and contiguous with the bearing edge of said segment,the segment having a centrally-recessed portion and a wirereceivingnotch, the cylindrical former projecting at a right angle, from one sideof the aforesaid segmental end, with a lever pivotally connected withthe opposite side-of the segment, the said lever having its axiscoincident with that of the segmental slot but eccentric with that ofthe former, and being provided with a bender adapted to project throughthe segmental slot and to operate therein, with its concaved surfacetoward the former and approximately parallel therewith, substantially asset forth.

2. In a tool for converting partially-driven fence-nails into staples, alever having a segmental end, and teeth or projections on the bearingedge thereof, a segmental slot within the said end and a cylindricalformer situated centrally and contiguous with the bearing edge of thesegment, as described, in combination with a second lever pivotallyconnected with the back of the segment and having its axis coincidentwith the segmental slot, but eccentric with the former, and beingprovided with a bender adapted to operate in the segmental slot of thefirst lever, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

BENJAMIN F. KERNODTIE.

\Vitn esses:

JAMES T. GARNBY, E. M. DALE.

